1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for signal transmission in general, and in particular to a method and apparatus for transmitting optical signals. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for switching optical signals within an optoelectric computer network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An optoelectric computer network is a computer network in which digital data signals are passed in both optical pathways and electrically conductive pathways. Most, if not all, of the computers within an optoelectric computer network are optoelectric computers. An optoelectric computer is a computer system in which digital data signals are transmitted in both electrically conductive buses and optical buses (or pathways). Typically, an optoelectric computer is equipped with optical link capabilities and may, for example, utilize semiconductor devices that have vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) serving as transducers for optoelectric exchange.
Within an optoelectric computer network, an optical hub may be utilized to provide information exchange among all computers within the network. The optical hub is analogous to an electrical network switch, and it allows concurrent communications among multiple computers. In such optoelectric computer network, difficulty is anticipated in efficiently allocating available optical pathway resources for transmission of optical signals, particularly where the optical pathway capabilities exceed the capabilities of electrically conductive pathways such as legacy busses retained from earlier generations of data processing systems. In many optoelectric computers currently in use, selected frequencies of the light spectrum are allocated to contain a specific data stream. In those cases, it becomes necessary to switch those data streams among various optical pathways such as an optical hub. The present disclosure provides an apparatus for switching optical signals within the optical hub of an optoelectric computer network.
An optoelectric computer network includes multiple computers. Each of the computers includes a first fiber optic cable for sending optical signal beams and a second fiber optic cable for receiving optical signal beams. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for broadcasting optical signals within the optoelectric computer network includes a prism and a mirror array. The prism is capable of splitting an optical signal beam from a first fiber optic cable of one of the computers into multiple optical signal beams. Each of the optical signal beams is of an unique frequency within a light spectrum. The mirror array, which is formed by an array of deformable mirrors, then individually directs each of the optical signal beams to a respective second fiber optic cable of the rest of the computers.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.